“I know the feeling,” Arnie said. “How do you like me best? As a human or a falcon?”
“I’m not sure,” Skylark answered. “You’re just Arnie. It doesn’t matter what you look like. And you’re doing a great job here, oh chieftain.”
“You really think so? That’s a big compliment coming from you. It wasn’t so long ago that we couldn’t stand each other.” He stared at Skylark with his brown and blue eyes, and she felt her heart do a little flip.
“We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we!” Skylark said quickly. “It’s not every day that a boy gets the chance to change into a bird and save the world. I mean it, Arnie, I’m really proud of you.”
Arnie bobbed his head and kicked his claws together in an “aw shucks” way. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said. “If you hadn’t fired that shotgun, we’d all be slaves to the seabirds by now. I knew you would come through.”
“I almost didn’t.”
“That doesn’t matter. The fact that you did it is all that counts. And it saved the day. One second more and we would have been yesterday’s toast.”
“But the seabirds will be back,” Skylark shivered. “So it’s just as well we stayed, isn’t it. You’re the only one here who knows Kawanatanga and how to stop him.”
“Actually I’m clean out of ideas,” Arnie said. “That’s why I’ve come to see you. You’ve always been more resourceful than me. You have this habit of thinking laterally. Can you think of anything?”
Skylark grinned. “Well, you could phone for help again. Who knows what else Hoki might throw through the ripped sky.” Then she grew serious. “Whatever happens,” she said, “we’ve only got two more days to do it before we have to think of returning to Tuapa.”
Arnie nodded. He heard Chieftain Tui whistling for him. “I’d better get back. But hey,” he gulped, “you wouldn’t mind taking another walk like this when we get back home, would you?”
He had nothing to lose. She’d either say yes or no.
“Sure,” Skylark answered.
Arnie tried to be nonchalant. “Cool,” he said.
And Auntie Bella said he couldn’t get a girlfriend? Ha.
He flew back to the paepae. Chieftain Tui was in deep conversation with a deputation from Chieftain Kakapo of ground parrots, Chieftain Takahe and Chieftain Pukeko.
“We may not be windhovers or forest birds, but we are here to assert the mana of all ground birds,” said Kakapo, puffing up his chest. “Just because we have no wings it doesn’t mean that we are not fighters.”
“Ka tika, ka tika,” Takahe agreed. “How do you think we feel, sitting here on the ground while the fight is happening up there in the sky?”
“In other words,” said Pukeko, “and to cut to the chase, bring the seabirds to our level. If you birds with wings can get the seabirds down to the ground, leave them to us. We’ll finish them off, eh boys?”
“I don’t know,” Tui said, unconvinced. “Are you ground chieftains suggesting that we bring the fight to our forest home? Where our nesting places are? Our wives and children? I don’t like the sound of it. No, it’s too dangerous.”
“The proposal has merit,” Arnie intervened. “The seabirds have the upper hand only when they have a clear sky to attack from or a target that is in the open air.”
“You like what the groundbirds are saying?” Tui answered.
“Somehow or other,” Arnie said, “we’ve got to beat the seabirds’ odds. This is a way of doing it. The sky is their battleground. The trees are ours. Down here we’ll have the greater advantage.” He was liking the idea more and more. “Let’s change the rules. Use the forest as a trap. Give our wingless brothers the chance to do their job. Adopt guerrilla tactics. Hey, now there’s an idea.”
“Guerilla tactics?” Kahu echoed, puzzled.
Arnie was jumping around with excitement. “They were perfected by a man called Te Kooti,” he answered. “As the seabirds advance to the inlet, we should get the windhovers and the forest birds to lure them into the forest. I know Kawanatanga and his followers. They won’t be able to resist. They’ll follow and, in our world, they will lose formation. They won’t be able to move in squads so easily. The ground birds will be able to pick them off one by one. It’s really the best chance we’ve got.”
The Council of War waited for Tui to make the decision.
“Okay, Chieftain Arnie,” he said. “You’ve been right so far. You may be right again. Let’s do it.”
And then it was time for war again.
Kawanatanga appeared on the ramparts with his new consort, Areta. “I will bring you the whole world,” he promised her, “and I will lay it at your feet.” He leapt into the air, and, as one, the seabird army lifted from the unholy Sea of Feathers. Slapping his breastbone, Kawanatanga, the new Supreme Commander, set up a ferocious haka.
“Ka eke i te wiwi, ka eke i te wawa,
Ka eke i te papara huia —
Breach the outer defences, capture the inner palisades,
storm the very centre of the manu whenua domain,
scrape the land clean of them —”
The words burst across the sky with ominous foreboding. To Skylark, Arnie and the manu whenua, the words sounded like thunder rolling from the east to the west across the sky. They were dissonant, filled with dread, skulls, rattling bones, portents of death and destruction. Some among the waiting warriors felt their bowels loosen, their courage desert them. Many would be killed this day. But what else could they do except continue to fight for their land, their hens and chicks, history and culture?
Chieftain Tui stepped forward. “Oh Lord Tane,” he prayed, “look down upon your subjects the landbirds in our hour of travail. Forgive us our past trespasses and, if it be Thy will, let Thy Great Division, which we fight to protect this day, stand forever and ever, Amine.”
From the Great Forest of Tane came the chorus, “Amine.”
There was a disturbance. Te Arikinui Kotuku craned her neck and peered across the sacred mountains. “Chieftain Arnie,” she said, excited. “I think the reinforcements I sent for have arrived.”
“They couldn’t have come at a better time,” Arnie answered. “Where are they?”
Kotuku pointed to the clouds, where a string of stately cranes was silhouetted like a kite in the shape of a Chinese dragon. As they came nearer, Arnie’s face fell. “Only ten of them?” he asked.
Kotuku chose not to hear Arnie’s disappointment. Instead, she called out to the incoming birds. “Welcome, cousins, come to ground and take your place amongst us.”
The cranes circled the paepae. They were gorgeous to look upon with giant filamentous kimono wings. They carried wooden staffs in their feet. When they landed, they prostrated themselves before the landbirds.
Kotuku introduced the cranes to the Great Council. “Sirs, as you are aware, my species is a rare one in this land. Indeed, I live at Okarito with my colony, only by your leave and the blessing of Lord Tane. But my clan is worldwide and loyal to each other. They have sent us my cousin, the Great White Egret, who lives in China. She has brought with her crack Chinese fighters adept in the martial arts.”
The Great White Egret gave a slight grave nod. “My name is Yu Shu Lien,” she said. Her voice was soft, lyrical and warm. “My fighters come from the Wudan mountains. We may not be many but we respect the ideals of honour and selfless duty. It is our obligation to support our cousin, Te Arikinui Kotuku of these southern islands.”
Kung fu cranes from China, Skylark thought. Great.
Arnie’s response, however, was extraordinary. He prostrated himself before the Great White Egret. “The honour is ours, Shu Lien,” he said. “E ai o harirau, hei rere mai. What wings you have with which to fly here! In your country, long after you are gone, monks from the Shaolin order will create a society of martial arts fighters based on your ideals.”